Khalil Hamra / AP
The beaches of Tel Aviv and Gaza City are only seventy kilometers apart. Israelis and Palestinians who enjoy themselves there in summer live in worlds that couldn’t be more different. But if you take a closer look, you can also discover similarities.
The games on the beach are the same: Israelis (left) and Palestinians dig children in the sand.
Tel Aviv is a wealthy and cosmopolitan metropolis on the Mediterranean. Its beach with its hip bars, restaurants and sports facilities is a popular meeting place, especially for young people. The roughly 500,000 residents of the western-themed city live in a bubble. Their everyday life has little in common with that of the people in other Israeli cities, let alone that of the 2 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip.
The strip has been cordoned off since Hamas came to power in 2007. Space is scarce and the beaches are almost the only open recreational area. The sea is therefore also an important social meeting point for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children enjoy themselves on a gender-segregated beach in Tel Aviv. Men can bathe here three days a week and women three days.
Young people in Tel Aviv (left) and Gaza City pose on the beach on a summer evening.
The Israeli Oded Balilty and the Palestinian Khalil Hamra have been photographers for the AP news agency for over two decades. Both of them have already received a Pulitzer Prize for their pictures about the Middle East conflict. Khalil, like most Gazans, has never been to Tel Aviv. Oded has not been in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli withdrawal in 2005. Only once, almost twenty years ago, did the two work colleagues meet in Europe.
This summer they documented life on the beach on their side of the border for several months – and discovered not only stark differences, but also some similarities. Some of their photos have to be looked at carefully to see where they come from.
Two young men prepare their fishing nets on the beach in Gaza City.
Strong contrasts: a young Israeli (left) and a Palestinian woman in the water.
The difference is striking, especially among women. In Tel Aviv, they confidently wear tight bikinis and eye-catching tattoos on the beach. In Gaza City, women only go to the beach or into the water while they are veiled. Beach life as a whole is much more revealing on the Israeli side; The only exception are the separate beaches of the ultra-Orthodox Jews, where men and women can only go to the sea separately on days that are intended for them.
Young Israelis play foot volleyball on Tel Aviv Beach.
The lifeguard booth speaks volumes: hip in Tel Aviv (left), shabby in Gaza City.
However, if you take a closer look, you will also see the enormous differences in prosperity on the beaches. On the Israeli side, the beach bars and the lifeguard huts are much more neat and chic. But the clothing and sports equipment also shows that the Palestinians can afford a lot less.
Love of animals on both sides: an Israeli walks along the beach with his rats, boys in Gaza have fun on a camel.
Palestinian children play in a “homemade” pool on the beach in Gaza City.
The beaches of Tel Aviv and Gaza City are only seventy kilometers apart. When Israelis and Palestinians sit there by the sea in the evening, they see the same waves and the same sunset.
Summer evening by the sea in Tel Aviv (left) and Gaza City.
Young Palestinians watch an acrobat.
The lifeguard in Tel Aviv wears a Star of David, the one in Gaza wears the map of Palestine as a pendant.
Oded Balilty and Khalil Hamra photographed four Gaza wars on opposite sides. In May, Hamas fired hundreds of rockets into Tel Aviv, killing several people. Gaza City, on the other hand, was badly hit by Israeli air strikes, including the collapse of a nine-story skyscraper.
There is great fear and hatred on both sides, and the Israelis and Palestinians seem more distant than ever. In their summer project, the photographers were not only looking for striking contrasts, but also consciously for common realities and habits – and they found what they were looking for.
Children snorkeling on Tel Aviv Beach.
Israelis play chess on the beach. Palestinians sit at a game of cards.
Two Israeli women take a selfie on the beach. Palestinian women only go into the water veiled.
